Hiding a House in the Apocalypse - Chapter 18



Only Krnovel

16. Motivation (2)

I visited the funeral home when Lee Sang-hoon’s father died.

It was mutual.

I saw Lee Sang-hoon at a late age, so he was old enough and had cancer, and he was bedridden for three years, receiving torturous treatment to keep himself alive.

There was so much mourning that there was no room to set foot.

Next to the special mortuary room his father occupied was a small regular room.

The room was dark and empty, with the noise of people talking loudly coming from the side clearly audible.

The wreath was also from a company I had never seen before.

In the center of the half-lit mortuary was a portrait of a young-looking man, and below him were people who appeared to be his wife and children, with their heads bowed, listening to the noise coming from the next room.

The contrast was so striking that I think it stayed in my memory for quite a while.

What brought back memories of that time were the words that Kim Da-ram left behind.

“They said the funeral home will be open until tomorrow morning. It may be harsh, but in these times, having a funeral home at a university hospital is in itself a privilege.”

“Are you going?”

“I have to go.”

Kim Da-ram answered with a sigh.

“I don’t want to go, but I have to go. He was my senior, team leader, and director. Why? He came to my wedding and gave me 30,000 won in congratulatory money. Of course I have to go, right?”

“Was the minimum at that time 30,000 won?”

“No, it was 50,000 won back then too.”

“Ha, it’s Lee Sang Hoon after all.”

“As expected, it’s Lee Sang Hoon.”

For a moment, we each smiled bitterly as we reminisced about the past.

The one who broke the silence between the two was Kim Da-ram.

“Senior, are you coming too?”

“me?”

It’s right to refuse.

That makes sense and there is a reason for it.

But for some reason I couldn’t answer right away.

“That, that.”

“I know. There’s a capsule on the way, right? It’s nighttime now. You’ll end up in trouble if you come here. Just pray for the deceased from afar.”

I wanted to talk more, but the conversation naturally stopped.

I cut off the radio and sat in the bunker for a while, lost in thought.

A lot of thoughts came to my mind, but it felt like I was holding on to a rope made of sand.

Nothing was clearly visible.

I focused my thoughts on the most recent past.

Lee Sang-hoon asked me to have a drink with him.

Maybe it was a gesture of reconciliation extended to me.

Or maybe it was a call for help from me.

Above all, what did that guy mean when he said the back of the head at the end?

The dead do not speak.

Therefore, Lee Sang-hoon will not answer my questions.

Nevertheless, I decided to go see him.

I felt forced, as if my insoluble doubts would be resolved only if I went there.

*

I went through the pitch-black darkness relying on a bicycle.

You can use a car, but there are barriers on the road that I created.

There was no other way to get around without making a sound than by bicycle.

But my intentions were thwarted by a motorcycle approaching from a distance, making a loud noise and flashing lights.

“What are you doing there?”

The man, who had been asking bluntly and with a hint of wariness, took off his night vision goggles and revealed his face.

We recognized each other’s faces almost simultaneously.

“What? Isn’t that Mr. Park Gyu?”

This is Baek Seung-hyun.

A member of the National Assembly who is one year his senior but takes on all sorts of dirty and dangerous work in the rear under the guise of a freelance hunter.

“Where are you going?”

“seoul.”

“I have somewhere to go.”

He stared at the distant lights.

“Can’t you just let it go?”

“That’s right. I want to do that too.”

Baek Seung-hyun put a cigarette in his mouth with a bitter smile.

“······Because I’m not the person in charge.”

Baek Seung-hyun’s radio emitted noises that were frivolous and childish, yet sufficiently violent.

“Sir. What is it?”

I looked at Baek Seung-hyun quietly.

“Hunter?”

Baek Seung-hyun put his three-lens goggles back on and nodded toward the light.

“One of our juniors sensed you.”

“I see······.”

Baek Seung-hyun snorted.

“They’re real hunters. They’re different from old farts like us.”

Finally, I stood in front of the barrier I was trying to avoid.

There was no other choice.

Today I’m going to pay my respects, not to pile up more corpses.

A group of people were standing under a bright light that could be seen from afar.

The military and police were at the forefront.

They are not a problem.

If I had to say something, it would be the background.

The problem is the three shadows standing arrogantly behind them.

They were wearing the same jacket, which had a patch on the top pocket depicting a tiger baring its teeth and roaring.

Roaring tiger.

This is the mark of a new hunter who has been raised and trained in line with the latest doctrine that appeared about 6 years ago.

Our old-time hunters are called by the following titles:

“mister.”

A man with dyed blond hair who appeared to be in his early 20s called out to Baek Seung-hyun.

“So, who is this guy?”

Behind him stood a man yawning while carrying a large shield on his back and a woman constantly looking at her cell phone.

“Former Hunter.”

Although he didn’t bow his head, Baek Seung-hyun’s expression and attitude made it seem like he had already bowed several times.

“A former hunter? Like an old man?”

“Haha, right.”

The man and woman standing behind me gave me cold stares.

I know very well what emotions are in their eyes.

Contempt and neglect.

The blonde in the lead tilted her head, looking puzzled.

“Why would a former hunter leave a perfectly good road and go back to a dark place? He’s not even a criminal.”

Baek Seung-hyun looked at me.

That face, desperately holding back its humiliation, was trying to transfer its annoyance to me.

“I’m going to Seoul.”

I answered.

Baek Seung-hyun’s eyes grew wide.

A look of anticipation as if something big is about to happen.

I ignored him and continued talking.

“quietly.”

I turned my gaze towards the blond man.

The blond man looked back at his colleague and smiled awkwardly, as if he found my behavior ridiculous.

“This guy is really awake.”

“How many units?”

He asked firmly.

The smile disappeared from the blonde’s lips.

The man with the shield frowned and the woman who had been staring at her cell phone raised her head.

A murderous current swept between us like a sudden blizzard.

The blond man glared at me with shining eyes and spoke coldly and cut me off.

“Two. Ten. Ki.”

“It’s the 13th generation.”

Yes, that’s right.

I am these guys’ senior.

He is also a senior like the sky.

But these young friends think differently.

“Those before the 18th class are not seniors.”

The man behind me intervened.

“Except for a very small number of cases.”

They came to me.

As promised, with both eyes softly shining like lights.

“You can’t call someone who is no different from that soldier standing there blankly as your senior, right?”

A bitter sneer appeared at the corner of the blond man’s mouth.

“Sir, have you opened your eyes? Do you have the power?”

He shook his head.

“Then you’re not my senior.”

Humanity, who had been fighting monsters for the survival of the species, was constantly on the defensive.

An unusual phenomenon was observed around the time when 30% of humanity was wiped out.

Some people in humanity began to use magical powers to fight monsters.

Scholars analyzed it as psychic energy resulting from a high level of mental activity and named it by the nondescript name of power.

Ironically, this new power resembled the monsters that were enemies of humanity, but it was already a foregone conclusion that the new blood with this power would quickly push out the old-school Hunters.

These young friends are the future that is foretold.

“You went to the same school, so you must know the dangers of that capsule. Go back.”

It could go back like this.

If you think about it calmly, that might be the most reasonable solution.

But I had a feeling that I couldn’t go back like this.

Why, these guys.

Am I denying the life I’ve lived?

This hurts.

It will probably be a big wound.

In a lonely bunker where thoughts are already increasing, that wound may become intertwined with old wounds and rot even more.

In addition, Lee Sang-hoon’s invisible face appeared before my eyes.

It seemed like the guy was talking to me.

If you can, try it

“That capsule is the problem?”

Then I guess I should do it?

“What are you going to do?”

“Aren’t you saying that if I just deal with that capsule, I’ll let you through?”

“You’re funny. I wonder what you’re going to do with an old school theme. Just give it a try.”

The blonde stepped aside.

“If you succeed, Jihye will personally bring you to Seoul.”

“Why me?”

The blonde snickered and the woman snorted.

Complete disregard.

Thanks to you, the board was set.

The juniors who did not recognize me as their senior pushed the military and police back.

“Everyone, please get in the car early. It’s unlikely, but monsters might show up.”

Among the many people, only Baek Seung-hyun was standing behind me.

With the engine running and the motorcycle ready to go at any time.

“Thank you for your consideration, but it is not necessary.”

“······Mr. Park Gyu.”

I looked back at him and snickered.

“You know who I am, right, senior?”

According to the now-obsolete combat doctrine of the past, there are two ways for a Hunter to engage a monster in a small-scale engagement.

One is to pinpoint and snipe areas where the defensive field is not spread out.

Another one is to engage monsters in close combat.

I also told this to Chairman Je-Pung-Ho.

Approaching a monster is extremely difficult, but if you can approach it, there is room for improvement.

It’s true.

If you can enter the arena within the minimum distance where the force field can be deployed, and if you have the spirit and skill to face the monsters you will encounter there,

You can kill them.

“······.”

He took out two axes.

This pair of axes, both blade and handle painted black, are one of the few things I took with me when I retired.

“Fighting~! Senpai~!”

A mocking voice is heard from behind.

He swung an axe while quietly staring at the capsule.

The moment the axe made contact with the target, two black spots appeared in the field of vision with a time difference, like dead pixels.

This provides two pieces of information.

One is that the guy has deployed a reflective field, and the other is the position to counterattack with the reflective field.

He swung his axe down and blocked the blade of my axe, which was flying towards my neck, with another axe.

Chaengkang!

Retrieve the axe and make a second attack.

Two identical stains stained my eyes with a time difference, and my body moved like a single machine, attacking and defending simultaneously.

After repeating the same attack and defense several times, the whistle coming from behind was no longer heard.

That doesn’t matter anymore.

A swirling vortex seemed to suck me in, spinning its spiral arms like the galaxy itself, creating a twisted space in front of me.

The time has come.

The monster appears.

“Oh, you’re crazy! You really woke me up!”

“It’s a monster!”

“Run away!”

Amid everyone’s astonishment, I quietly watched the silhouette of the monster taking shape in the light.

An ancient statue-like figure with an elongated, human-like head.

Are you the dancer type?

No, it’s a necromancer type.

They’ve avoided the worst, but they’re not an easy opponent.

If it was a medium distance, it would have been impossible to approach without a trained partner.

But I’m at zero range with him and can engage in close combat.

It already foretells one definite outcome.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

I waited for the bastard to settle into reality, feeling the shockwaves that seemed to crush my heart and intestines.

The bastard turned his head and glared at me, swinging his gray-gray arm.

Two axes cut off the bastard’s arms.

Bam!

What a feeling it has been.

The feeling of breaking them.

The taste brought back memories that had been dormant.

The dance has begun.

The dance of death that I learned, that I was best at, and that has now become a forgotten tradition.

In it, monsters are nothing.

Within the zero distance that even the stationmaster cannot extend, he is nothing more than an old tree waiting to be cut down, his body swaying slowly and dully.

The bastard glared at me as he made a last-ditch effort, firing thorns that extended from his entire body, but my dance moves had already passed the thorns’ path and were aiming for his head.

Bam!

Two axes were stuck into the monster’s head.

I can feel the bastard’s twitching in the shovelled axe handle.

The only lullaby that once soothed my endless hatred.

“This is the professor······?!”

Baek Seung-hyun’s voice was heard in the silence.

thud.

The monster fell to the ground, crushed, torn, and tattered.

White light rose from its body as if it were on fire, and the monster began to disappear, turning into white particles.

I took a deep breath and turned around, retrieving my two axes.

The juniors who did not recognize me as their senior were looking at me with astonishment.

A face that is hard to believe even after seeing it.

It can’t be helped.

Because they are from a different generation than us.

Because they were educated and trained in doctrines different from ours.

But they might know a little bit too.

That there were warriors who influenced an era and protected an era.

“Should I burn it?”

The guy who was with me during those times, the guy who opened the way for me, is waiting for me in the cold darkness.

*

“Oh, goodbye!”

The woman who gave me a lift hurriedly said goodbye to me and left without even looking back at me.

The hallway leading to the mortuary was similar to that of Lee Sang-hoon’s father’s funeral.

The rich are placed in the same place.

But the atmosphere is completely different.

There were no wreaths filling the hallways and no mourners.

In the half-abandoned darkness, a young, gorgeous woman whose identity was unknown was guarding the funeral home with her head down.

I looked at Lee Sang-hoon’s memorial tablet with a strong sense of foreboding.

“Sanghoon.”

Now I remember clearly.

This is what the guy looked like.

*

“Moving to Jeju Island is Lee Sang-hoon’s plan.”

Kim Da-ram came to the funeral home and called me out.

“If you’re my senior, you must know why Lee Sang-hoon did something like that, right?”

He nodded and repeated the theory he had learned in school.

“······The strength of a crack is proportional to the population around the crack.”

“Lee Sang-hoon’s plan was to send the best manpower to Jeju, which is relatively weak, and prepare for the future. As you know, monsters are a phenomenon that happened, not an army with intentions.”

“Isn’t this a plan that he can push forward on his own?”

“The president and the top brass also agreed. The problem is.”

She looked back at the echoing street with sad eyes.

“All those who are not chosen are abandoned. That leaked out and this is what caused this scandal.”

“Why did he take responsibility for it alone?”

“Who would take responsibility for throwing away the lives of tens of millions of people? The lowest level of decision-makers would be the ones to take the blame.”

“Sanghoon, what about his wife and son? They weren’t there at the funeral.”

“I’m already in Jeju Island.”

“I see.”

Kim Da-ram took a bite of a cigarette.

“Besides, Mr. Lee Sang-hoon, I don’t know what you were thinking, but you put your name on that plan.”

“Lee Sang Hoon’s plan?”

“Lee Sang Hoon’s plan. Why did he do that? He must have known very well that if he used a dump truck, it wouldn’t end like that.”

“······.”

I have a vague idea, but I can’t seem to grasp it.

“Oh, and one more thing. It’s nothing special, but before Lee Sang-hoon died, he talked about his senior.”

“what?”

“Senior, the back of your head keeps popping up in my mind.”

“The back of my head?”

“Yeah. When I was in school, I always wanted to hit that guy on the back of the head who was always blocking my path by being nosy.”

Was that so?

Well, it must have been annoying.

Because you blocked my way like that.

“But before he died, he said with a smile that now he could really hit the back of the head.”

“Any new discoveries?”

Kim Da-ram looked around and sighed.

“Well. After meeting Senior Kang, he started laughing and then suddenly started talking about that.”

“Kang Han-min?”

“Sorry. Isn’t that a name you don’t like hearing?”

“No, it’s okay. I trained my mentality using the unpopular Skeleton training method.”

“Unpopular?”

I looked around.

Beyond them, crowds of people were milling about in the darkness without even a candle to burn, shouting desperate words about survival.

A world is coming to an end.

I was there.